The passage of scripture we just
read was majestic, wasn't it? And to think that we believe
every word in this book, what a blessing. Back to Matthew chapter three. In those days came John the Baptist
preaching in the wilderness of Judea. I love this. If you were going to hear from
God at this time, you wouldn't go to the temple. You wouldn't
go to the religious schools of that day. You would go to the
wilderness. And it was prophesied that John
would be preaching in the wilderness, wasn't it? A voice of him that
crieth in the wilderness makes straight the path of our God. I love this. John purposely,
because it was prophesied, I realize that, but purposely he was not
going to be identified with the religion of that day. If you
were going to hear from God, you were going to have to hear
from him from the wilderness. And you know I feel so strongly
I don't want to be identified with denominational religion. Do you? They all have their brands. Mine's a little bit better than
the others. I do not want to be identified with man's religion. John the Baptist came and preached
in the wilderness and for you to hear the gospel you would
have to go to the wilderness to hear. You know there had been
no prophetic word for 400 years. After the book of Malachi, we
read of nothing but silence. Now somebody says, does that
mean there were no believers during that time? I don't think
it means that because I know Simeon was. I know Anna was,
but now the Lord sends his prophet preaching in the wilderness. And let's look at his message.
Verse one, here's what he said. Repent ye, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. Last Wednesday, we considered
what he meant by revent. And this is so simple. Everything we naturally think
is wrong. And that is demonstrated by the
fact that we naturally believe in salvation by works. And if
I believe in salvation by works, I'm completely wrong concerning
the character of God, I'm completely wrong concerning my own character,
and I'm completely wrong concerning salvation. who Christ is and
what he accomplished. Repent, change your mind, you're
wrong on everything. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. And this is the precise same
words the Lord used in Matthew chapter four, look in verse 17. From that time, Jesus began to
preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now, I think it's interesting
that This phrase, the kingdom of heaven is unique to Matthew.
All of the other writers use the kingdom of God. Somebody
says, is there a difference? Well, I know God, the Holy spirit
inspired him to use this word, but also know quite often the
words are used interchangeably. So if there is a difference,
I don't know what it is, but I know he does use a different
word, but listen to Mark's account. The Lord says the time is fulfilled. And I love that statement. Everything that happens in time
is a fulfilling of what was decreed in eternity. That covers everything. The time is fulfilled. Oh, I hope we don't say that
was providential. I've said it before, no doubt
you said it before when something good happened, that was really
providential. Everything is providential. Everything is according to his
purpose. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand because the
king of the kingdom is right here. You know, the kingdom of
heaven is at hand right now. Very near. Repent ye and believe
the gospel. The kingdom of heaven. Where's heaven? Wherever he is. I don't even know if the place
heaven is in the created universe. I don't know. But the kingdom
of I love the way that sounds, the
kingdom of heaven, a heavenly kingdom, as opposed to an earthly
kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is certainly
not the kingdom of men and it's at hand. It's very near right
now. This is not something to put
off and ignore. This is just as true now as it
was when our Lord said this, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's very near. I love that scripture. The word is nigh thee, even in
thy heart and in thy mouth. That is the word of faith, which
we preach. The kingdom of heaven is very
near. Kingdom of heaven is other. The Lord said, my kingdom is
not of this world. Keep politics out of it. As soon as politics enters, it's
no longer the kingdom of heaven. It is a worldly. fleshly manipulative
thing. It's not the kingdom of heaven. I think of Joshua seeing the
Lord as the man with the drawn sword in Joshua chapter five
when he was contemplating going to Jericho. He sees this man,
he says, are that for us? or for our adversaries? He knew
this was a formidable person. He wasn't really sure who it
was. I think he thought it was the Lord. He said, are you for us or for
our adversaries? Neither. I don't take sides. I'm not on one side or the other.
I'm the captain of the Lord of hosts. I'm the God of glory. I don't take sides. This kingdom
is not an earthly kingdom. And the Lord tells us that. He
said, my kingdom is not of this world. In Luke chapter 17, verse
20, the Lord said, the kingdom of God cometh not by observation. Now that's so important. It's
not something you can see and say, yeah, there it is. I see
it. No, that's it. I see it now. Kingdom of heaven
does not come by observation. As a matter of fact, the Lord
said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
heaven. For me to be able to see the
kingdom of heaven, I have to be given eyes to see. I have
to be given a nature that believes. I need to be born from above.
The kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation. A natural man has no idea what
it is. It's not something that can be
observed empirically. It's not something tangible that
you can touch or you can look at something and say, here it
is. This heavenly kingdom is one
the natural man could never see. It cometh not with observation. Turn to Matthew chapter six.
This is one of the most important verses with regard to the kingdom
of heaven. Verse 31, therefore take no thought,
saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. Isn't it a blessing to
know the Lord knows exactly what you need and He's going to give
it to you? He is. You don't need to worry. I don't
need to worry about anything. Look what he says in verse 33,
but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now, I think most people, when
they read that, they say, if you seek the kingdom of God,
you need to be righteous. That's not what he says here.
He says, seek ye the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Oh, I want to seek to have His
righteousness as my own personal righteousness before God. Now, this is a thing that you
cannot see. My righteousness is in heaven right now. I can't
see, but that is my righteousness. Now remember, we walk by faith,
not by sight. I can sit. No, you can't. The righteousness of God. I think of that scripture, now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. You hear
what that's saying? Now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested. That means without my personal
keeping of the law. Now, I personally kept it when
Christ did, but apart from Him keeping it for me, I've never
kept it. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. Paul said in Philippians chapter
3 verses 8 and 9, oh that I may win Christ. This is my greatest
desire right now while I'm talking to you. Oh that I may win Christ and
be found in him. Not having my own righteousness. I don't want to have anything
to do with that. If my fingerprint's on it, get
rid of it. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Seek ye the kingdom of God and
His righteousness. Now somebody says, how can that
be? Or the Bible tells us, for he hath made him sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God. in Him. That is the righteousness
that every believer possesses. That is the righteousness every
believer seeks. Now if you're seeking the Lord,
you're seeking His righteousness. You don't want to stand before
God on your own. You want to stand in Him. And what is the
evidence that you have His righteousness? Now let me tell you this, it's
not something you can see. To Him that worketh not. but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Now here's
the person who has this righteousness. This person is convinced that
they cannot be saved by their works. Him that worketh not. You understand that if there's
something you must first do, Before he can do something for
you, there will be no salvation for you. You believe that. You
have been made to see. I can't be saved by my works.
To him that worketh not, but believeth. On him that justifies
the ungodly. Now what's that mean? That means
you believe that what Christ did was an act that actually
made it all the people he died for who were ungodly just in
God's sight. You believe that. You're relying
on that. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Now, this is the righteousness
spoken of by the Lord when he said to his people, accept your
righteousness. Now, he's talking about the same
righteousness I've been talking about. The righteousness of God
is your righteousness if you're a believer. Except your righteousness
exceed, far surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. And it's to be sought first. If you're seeking anything else
over this, If I'm seeking anything else over this, I can be sure
I'm not in the kingdom of heaven, nor will I enter the kingdom
of heaven. Those entering the kingdom of heaven are seeking
His righteousness, the righteousness of God. Turn with me to Matthew
chapter 19. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Verse 16. And behold, one came unto him
saying, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There's none good but one that
is God." Now he rebukes this man for calling him good master. You see what he was saying, you're
a good man and I want to be able to reach your level of goodness. What good thing can I do that
would make me like you? Good master and the Lord rebuked
him. He didn't realize that this was
a term of disrespect to the Lord of glory. Good master. This is the son of God. This
is the altogether lovely one. This is the great I am that I
am. And to put him down in human terms like this, good master. And the Lord knew what he was
doing. He knew he was seeing him only as a good man. What can I do to become better?
And he rebuked him. Why callest thou me good? There's
none good, but one. Amen. There is none good but
one that is God." Now, I love the way the Lord does this. He
meets him on the ground, he comes. If that will enter into life,
keep the commandments. What good thing can I do? Keep
the commandments. If you want to come on that ground,
here's what you need to do. Keep the commandments. And he saith unto him, which Jesus said, thou shalt do no
murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness,
honor thy father and thy mother. And thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. The young man saith unto him,
all these have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? Did this man really believe this?
I believe he did, Paul did. Touching the righteousness, which
is in the law. I was blameless. I can't imagine
even meeting somebody who would say something like this, but
this man thought he did, but you'll notice there was one commandment
as far as the commandments with regard to men that the Lord left
out. You know what it is? Thou shalt not covet. He didn't mention that. And this
man did not understand that he was completely eaten up with
and dominated by covetousness. And Paul tells us covetousness
is idolatry. This man broke both tables of
the law constantly. He just didn't see it at this
time. So verse 21, and Jesus said unto
him, if that will be perfect, Go and sell that thou hast and
give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come and follow me. But when
the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he
had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, I'm sure this man is leaving
and the disciples are looking at him, leave. Then said Jesus
unto his disciples, verily I say unto you that a rich man shall
hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. Here's the word, the
kingdom of heaven. A rich man shall hardly enter
The kingdom of heaven, again, I say unto you, it's easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Can a camel get through the eye
of a needle? Well, it's impossible. Under no circumstances can a
camel make its way through a needle's eye. You know how small that
is? No, yet it's easier. for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God. When his disciples heard, they
were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? This man,
this good man, this moral man, I mean, sure he had a lot of
wealth. He'd saved. I mean, what's wrong with that? He's kept all
the commandments. You're going to tell me this
man, it would be easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye
than for this man to be saved. Who then can be saved? If this
man can't be saved, who can be saved? But Jesus be healthy. and said unto them, with men,
this is impossible. There's the answer. Who then
can be saved? With men, it is impossible. Under no circumstance can you
or I ever be saved if salvation is in any way dependent upon
something we must first do before God can do something for us.
With men, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. You see, You cannot be saved
unless God saves you. That's simple enough, isn't it?
You and I cannot be saved. I cannot be saved unless God
saves me. You can't enter into the kingdom
of heaven unless God causes you to, except a man be born again
He cannot enter the kingdom of heaven except a man be born from
above. He cannot see the kingdom of
heaven. Why can't we? What causes this
inability or disability or whatever you wanna call it? Why can't
we enter the kingdom of heaven? S-I-N, sin. That's the reason,
sin. Your sins have separated you
from your God. Because of our sin, it's impossible
for us to save ourselves. But thank God, although with
men it's impossible, not with God. God can take someone who
cannot save themselves and he can save them. And he doesn't
need any help from you or me. He's gracious. He's merciful. He delights in mercy. With God,
all things are possible. God can give you and me a brand
new history of absolute sinlessness, where I've never done anything
wrong, and I've always done that which is perfectly right. Somebody
says, you can't change the past. You can't change history. God
can. With God, all things are possible. And every believer
stands before God with a perfect history, perfect righteousness,
perfect obedience, the righteousness of God. That's perfect obedience.
That's yours because with God, all things are possible. Now, because of his ability,
is anything too hard for the Lord? Because of his ability. Jude
says, now unto him the table. There, that's talking about his
ability. Now unto him the table to keep you from falling. Do you fear falling? Now unto
him the table to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. With God, all things are possible. And this kingdom of heaven has
a king. What's a kingdom without a king?
This kingdom of heaven has a king. And he's called in the scripture,
the king of kings. There's a king walking around
anywhere. He put them in that place. He
put everybody in whatever place of authority they're at, and
they're doing what he determines for them to do. He is the king
of kings. He is sovereign. He is all powerful. He's the king of kings. I'd like you to turn to Matthew
chapter 25. Let me read verse one first. Then, talking about the end days,
talking about judgment day, then shall the kingdom of heaven be
likened. And there are actually 15 parables
in the book of Matthew where the Lord tells us what the kingdom
of heaven is like, and we're gonna be able to look at those
all, and I'm looking forward to it. But when we're talking
about the king of this kingdom, look in verse 31. I love the majesty of this scripture.
When the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory
and before him shall be gathered all nations. Me and you are going to be in
this gathering. You can write that down. Me and
you will be present. All nations, all peoples, every
man to ever live will be at this great tribunal. And before him
should be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one
from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. he
shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left."
Now he's the one that does the separating. Verse 34, "...then shall the
king," This is the king of this kingdom of heaven. "...then shall
the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of
my father Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. Do you know, even on judgment
day, that's going to be brought out. This kingdom was prepared
for you before time ever began. I'm the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and that's why you're here. I love the way the
Lord brings this out, even on judgment day. Inherit. You didn't
earn this. Oh, you know, there's a lot of
people that get inheritances, you think, but they didn't have
that coming. I know, but it's an inheritance. That's who gets
an inheritance. Come inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world for, and this is what
takes place in gospel preaching. For I was in hunger and you gave
me meat. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
to me. Now all that goes on in the bridging
of the gospel. Then shall the righteous answer
him, Lord, When saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee, or thirsty,
and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? We're not aware
of any of this. When saw we thee sick, or imprisoned,
and came unto thee? And the king shall answer, and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you've done
it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, It's just as if
you've done it to me. He doesn't say it that way, does
he? If you did it to them, you did it to me. Then shall he say
also unto them of the left hand, depart from me, he cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For
I was hungered, and you gave me no meat. No gospel was preached. I was thirsty, you gave me no
drink. I was a stranger and you took me not in, naked and you
clothed me not, sick and in prison and you visited me not. Then
shall they also answer him saying, Lord, we had hospitals, we had
soup kitchens, we did all these various different things. What
are you saying? We didn't do these things. We
thought we did. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when shall we be in hunger, or a thirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did minister
unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these,
you did it not to me. And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Now, this is the king of the
kingdom of heaven. Now, what about the subjects
of this kingdom? Would you turn to Matthew chapter
five? In the Beatitudes, there are two people described who
are subjects of this kingdom. They actually have all of the
Beatitudes, but this is what is spoken of those people who
actually theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Look in verse three. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Look in verse 10. Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, two times in the Beatitudes,
he speaks of those who possess the kingdom of heaven, and he
gives these two descriptions. Number one, poor. You have nothing that you could
think would ever recommend you to the God of glory. You are
poor. You don't have anything. You
know, it's only that person that is poor that can receive the
Lord Jesus Christ. As long as you have anything,
you can't receive Him. You won't do it. I think of the
Lord speaking of the straight gate. The only way you can get
through that gate is if all you have is Christ. If you have anything
else, you can't get through. Who does the kingdom of heaven
belong to? Oh, it's so easy to have Christ
as your righteousness if you don't have any, but if you've
got something, that's when things really get complicated. But when
you're poor and have nothing, it's easy for Christ to be all
in it. The second description of these people is they are persecuted
for righteousness sake. Now, what does that mean? Does that mean because of their
good works and their acts of generosity, their acts of charity,
their help toward those in need, they're persecuted. Now, listen,
we ought to be filled with acts of charity and helping those
who are in need all the time. That ought to describe us, but
that has nothing to do with what the Lord is saying. When he's
talking about being persecuted for righteousness sake, he's
talking about that same righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ
that every believer, let me be found in him. And when you say
his righteousness is the only righteousness, you're telling
somebody, your righteousness is no good. It won't get you
into the kingdom of heaven. It's no more than filthy rags,
it's no good. And somebody's gonna get offended
by that. And they're gonna persecute you for that. So be it. Blessed
are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake. Go back
to that scripture. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and what? His righteousness. That's the only righteousness
I want. His righteousness. The subjects of this kingdom
all have this in common. Look in Matthew chapter seven. Not everyone, verse 21, not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Oh, don't you want to enter into the kingdom of
heaven? I do. I want to be in this kingdom
right now that the world can't see. Oh, I want to be in it.
what he says, "...not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven." This is what everybody
in the kingdom of heaven call it. They do the will of His Father
which is in heaven. Verse 23, "...many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, Look at the repetition, Lord, Lord,
you know us. Have we not prophesied in thy
name? In thy name have cast out devils, in thy name done many
wonderful works. We've been doing your will. No,
you haven't. And then while I profess unto
them, I never do you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Now what is this thing of doing
his will? I won't be saved apart from doing His will. You won't
be saved apart from doing His will. What does it mean to do
His will? Well, some people ask the Lord,
what must we do that we might work the works of God? This is
the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent. You believe the Father sent Him.
I do believe the father sent the son and I believe that he
did exactly what the father sent him to do and I'm relying on
him only. Not him and him only. That is the doing of his will. Now these people are the people
of whom Christ said it's given to you. Listen to this. It's
given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom but to them it
is not given." Now, the gospel is about mystery, the mystery
of God, the mystery, great is the mystery of godliness, God
manifest in the flesh This great mystery, Christ in you, the hope
of glory. I speak about great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and the church. All of the truth
of the Bible is mystery that we could not possibly have figured
out or grasp had not God made it known in his word. And we
believe the mystery. You know, the gospel is so mysterious.
When we were reading Revelation 4, I thought, this is so mysterious.
It's so glorious. It's so other. It's given to
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom. And the Lord said,
except you be converted and become as little children, you shall
in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. You know what that
is? That's the capacity to believe something because he said, No
other reason needed. The capacity of childlike faith. If he said it, I believe it. That's all that's needed. If
it's in his word. I love the simplicity of this. The Lord said to Peter, thou
art Peter and I give unto you the keys of the kingdom. That's a powerful statement,
isn't it? The keys of the kingdom. It's upon this rock, this key
that I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Now, what was this key of the kingdom? What do men
say of me, Peter? Well, they say good things about
you. What do you say? Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the Living God. Blessed art thou, Peter. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to you, but my father, which is in heaven. And I say unto
you, thou art Peter. And upon this rock, I'll build
my church. This confession of who I am and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give unto you the
keys of the kingdom. What are the keys of the kingdom?
Believing who he is. Keep it that simple. Thou art
the Christ. the Son of the Living God. Do
you know everybody that believes that is in the Kingdom of Heaven? You know what comes right down
to it? Everybody who really believes the Bible. I know a lot of people
will claim to believe the Bible. Oh, I believe the book, the blessed
hope, whatever the things they say. I believe the Bible. If
you really do believe the Bible is the Word of God, you pay attention
to what it says. and everybody who believes the Bible. That's what a believer is. May
the Lord bless this to our hearts. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
kingdom of heaven. How we thank you for the king
of the kingdom. How we thank you for the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ that brings us into the kingdom of
heaven. How we thank you for eyes to see the kingdom of heaven.
Lord, we know it's not of this world, but Lord, how we love
thy kingdom and how we love entering in to your kingdom by faith. And Lord, we don't want to be
anywhere else by your grace. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.